The desert town of Monsbaiya hangs in a delicate balance with the aptly named Monster Tower that resides just outside its borders; the plunder from the tower is what keeps the town and its denizens afloat, but the job of an adventurer is a hard one. Koh and his family know this all too well, as Guy- Koh’s father, man of the household, and master monster tamer- disappears on a trek inside the tower. As a result, they’ve barely struggled to survive, putting all their hopes on Koh being able to succeed in his fathers’ footsteps when he comes of age. The day finally comes, and after years of preperation and the weight of his family and hometown’s continued existence on his shoulders, Koh approaches the sky piercing tower, intent on restoring the town to its former glory, and finding out the truth behind his fathers’ disappearence.

Azure Dreams is something of a combination between a Rougelike/Dungeon Crawler and a Life Sim; the game is largely focused on entering the tower, battling the enemies within, and obtaining monster eggs and loot; the eggs hatch into Familiars, each type bearing their own unique stats, strengths, and weaknesses, that can be raised- and unlike Koh, their levels do not reset upon reentering the tower. The loot, however, can be put towards restoring the town if need be, allowing for the building of paces like a library or a gym, some of which allow for potential love interests to appear, and others allowing access to aditional minigames alongside the main quest. There isn’t much like Azure Dreams out there, making it an essential purchase for PS1 collectors.